Our Editorial Guidelines
In response to the growing debate about travel writing ethics and to provide our readers with a clear view of our editorial approach, we have implemented a public editorial policy. At the time these were drafted, we were under no legal obligations to implement a rule on disclosures, but both then and now we feel that it is in both our interests as well as our readers to remain open as possible.
The Policy
Our overarching editorial view is simple:
Honest and Authenticity Are the Best Policy
However, more specifically, we align ourselves with the following principles:
- Writers for this publication accept sponsored travel. While the life of a travel writer may seem glamorous, it doesn’t pay terribly well. But sponsored travel does not always mean free flights or hotel nights. It also means that we are offered access to tours and events that we might have missed out on otherwise – so that we can ensure you know about the best on offer and book accordingly before you go. Trip reports which were sponsored by the destination now have a clear disclosure on them.
- We accept freebies from suppliers for our regularly featured contests. If you see the verbiage sponsored by, courtesy of, or provided by, these are clear indications that we did not pay for the items in our contests. This is regularly accepted practice throughout the industry but we’d be remiss not to spell it out here.
- We accept review copies of travel guides, books, and other travel-related items for review in this publication. We only accept items that we feel will resonate with our audience and are a strong fit with the STE brand, thus reducing the likelihood that we will review something we don’t like. But if we don’t like it, we’ll tell you.
- We reserve the right to run ‘advertorial’ content on our site. This publication is essentially free, and our sole revenue source is our hand-picked travel deals and special offers. Any articles that feature items from our special offers section are intended to generate revenue – just like advertisements in a magazine do. However, you cannot buy your way into this publication. We only run special offers and content that offer value to our readership, and that is an editorial decision, not a financial one.
If any article does not contain a disclosure statement or any of the aforementioned verbiage, then no sponsorship was involved.
We make use of affiliate links and other sponsored links to promote our advertisers and our affiliate partners throughout the site. All advertisers/partners are vetted and come with our approval/recommendation, though we hold no responsibility or liability for vendors and suppliers not part of the Sharing Travel Experiences.
Why All the Fuss?
We don’t want anyone to think that we write good things about a place or product because someone paid us to do so. (Or conversely, write bad things about something because we weren’t paid.) But because we promote rich, authentic travel, it is important to make it clear that All content on this site is written with editorial authenticity – our financial arrangements do not affect any of our content.
Questions, Comments, Concerns
If you feel that any content on this site is in violation of editorial policy or wish to discuss a particular piece of content, contact the editor.